It appears to be a filmy-style wedding on the lines of Mani Ratnam's 'Alaipaayuthe' (Saathiya) but with a tragic end.
Within a fortnight of joining the M.Tech programme at the IIT Madras, S Merugu Manasa (21), from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh has committed suicide at her hostel dormitory on Tuesday evening. But, it turned out to be a revelation for the family that the brilliant girl had kept her marriage under the wraps.
While the parents were unaware of it, records at IIT showed that her hubby was Srinivas Minisala, said to be working with Infosys at Hyderabad.
'Sakhi', the Telugu version of 'Alaipaayuthe', featuring chocolate baby Madhavan and Kollywood sensation 'Shalini' was a great hit. The film revolves around the lead pair getting married while pursuing their studies and finally getting integrated with their families. Even the songs were hugely popular.
Police have informed both her parents and husband about the death.
Hailing from Ramagundem in Karimnagar district, she had entered into wedlock with Srinivas Minisala, her batchmate at the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad. She joined IIT to pursue specialisation in Chemical Engineering and was a resident of the Sarayu Hostel Extension in the campus.
She was sharing the dormitory with seven others. Within a few days of entering the campus, Manasa had disclosed to colleagues that she was married. Known to be fun-loving, her decision to end her life has come as a surprise to her room-mates and others.
Academic pressure could not have been the reason for the suicide is what a senior professor maintained since classes have commenced only from August 1. She has not left any suicide note. This is the second suicide by a student in the campus since April.
Soon after her enrollment, Manasa left for home and after a stay of three days had returned on Tuesday morning. According to her room mates and the hostel staff, she looked a bit disturbed. Police said she skipped lunch, telling her colleagues that she would join them later.
Instead she locked the dormitory from inside and hanged herself from the ceiling fan with her duppata. Though the incident had happened at around 2.30 pm, police were informed only after 4.30 pm. Police investigating the case said personal problems could be the reason that had driven the girl to take this extreme step.
Her roommates who returned in the evening they found the door locked from inside. With no response, they alerted the hostel authorities and the door was broken open. The body was sent for post-mortem and police said her family had collected the body from the hospital.
In a twist to this incident, a photojournalist of an English Daily who visited IIT and took pictures was assaulted by a professor and the security guards. The professor had asked the lensman, who was on his way back, to delete the pictures he had taken.
On refusing to do so, the professor and the securitymen thrashed him.
After the issue snowballed into a controversy, IIT Madras Director Bhaskar Ramamurthy issued an apology for the attack on the photographer.
